1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to microwave active food packaging for containing and facilitating the cooking of frozen raw protein, along with a starch, sauce and vegetable which form a complete frozen food entree, in the microwave oven.
2. Description of the Related Art
Microwave susceptor packaging for food products has been in use for many years. Used primarily in the frozen food industry, some of the more common uses of this packaging technology are for browning pastry dough, such as found on a Chicken Pot Pie, microwave popcorn bags, or layered on a cardboard disc for browning the underside of a frozen pizza crust.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,973 (inventor: Wright) incorporated in its entirety by reference herein, standard flexible susceptor packaging use was expanded to include cooking raw frozen meat proteins with sauces and/or stuffing with vegetables. In this embodiment, a thin layer of aluminum, which acts as a microwave conductive material, is deposited onto one side of a heat sealable clear polyester laminate. This deposited aluminum side of the polyester layer is then adhered to a structural paper layer through the use of a water-based adhesive. This microwave susceptor flexible packaging on long rollstock is then run through a heat sealing packaging machine, such as a Doboy® Horizontal Sealing machine, which wraps and seals the flexible susceptor packaging around the protein and sauce food constituents, forming a convenient microwavable pouch.
While this invention was a novel and innovative application for flexible susceptor packaging materials, there were still some improvements that were desirable. For example, if the frozen food package were subjected to temperature abuse, i.e. freezing and thawing prior to its intended use, the structural paper outer laminate layer would become wet and could separate from the aluminum deposited polyester (susceptor) layer. This is due to the water-based adhesive, which must be used to bind the laminate layers in food packaging of this type, losing its bond in the presence of water. When this bond is lost, with no structural paper layer to support the underlying aluminum deposited polyester layer (the susceptor), the susceptor layer would distort and tear when producing heat in the presence of microwave energy, in a microwave oven.
Another shortcoming in the flexible susceptor packaging material that was described in the '973 patent was that the aluminum susceptor was deposited uniformly across the length and width of the web. Where the material was folded along the sides to form a pouch, foodstuff close to the this fold would often burn, scorch or become dried out, due to the intense heat that was produced in the proximity of this fold. This was due to two sides of the microwave susceptor material coming into close contact with one another, producing a tremendous concentration of reflected and conducted microwave energy and heat.
Further, the method specified to make the foodstuff-containing pouch did not describe the automated machinery that could be used to make a cooking pouch described in the preferred embodiment of the Wright patent. Commercially available or specially designed automated machinery can be used to speed the production of the protein foodstuff-containing pouches, thus creating efficiencies.
Finally, utilizing partially cooked (blanched) starches, such as pastas or rice, as a bed under which the protein portion and sauce can be deposited, could enhance the consumer perception of value for this frozen entree, while contributing a very small cost to the entrée.